890FXA-UD5, AMD overdrive & Black Edition Memory Profile (BEMP)

[Gavster]

I have read (in the overclocking forum) about the inability of Gigabyte's  Easy Tune to support overclocking in a meanful way, simply because there is really little or no technical support provided by Gigabyte for this software, so I investigating AMD overdrive instead.

For starters, I am not sure if Gigabyte's bios for the Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD5 supports AMD overdrive. Does anyone know if this is the case?

Secondly, has anyone had any experience with using Black Edition Memory Profile (BEMP) for overclocking?

AMD Press Release: AMD Black Edition Memory Profile lets users create custom profiles that can easily overclock known DDR3 memory to quickly and easily achieve optimum high speed DDR3 performance.

Corsair Blog: Both AMD users and Intel users now have the option of buying memory with memory performance profiles. These are pretested settings for the memory that can be utilized to automatically configure high performance memory settings in a quick and easy manner. AMD calls their method BEMP or Black Edition Memory Profiles. Intel’s version is XMP, or Extreme Memory Profiles. In some instances due to motherboard, memory controller, or BIOS limitations these performance profiles may not work correctly when all memory slots are loaded. In these cases, users will need to configure their memory settings manually.

I have read some previous threads on about BEMP, but it is not clear if anyone has actually used it :confused:

[absic]

Hi there,

AMD Overdrive should work with your Motherboard but, being totally honest, if you are looking at overclocking your rig it is really better if you can make the necessary adjustment through the M.I.T. section of BIOS as the overclock is active as soon as you start your PC, unlike the software utilities that need you to be in the OS before they actually kick in.

I haven't actually used BEMP RAM so can't say how reliable these are. I do know that with AMD Overdrive you can access these profiles, but am not sure how you use this information, sorry.

[Dark Mantis]

I can only speak from an Intel perspective but the XMP setting for that platform normally work well although as has been mentioned sometimes if all slots are filled a bit of tweaking may be necessary. I would like to say at this point that I am in total agreement with Absic regarding using the BIOS to make your settings rather than wait until you have the OS loaded.

[autotech]

Type bemp memory into google and go read all the post on amd forums. You will get more than enough info on BEMP and amd overdrive.

I use AMD Overdrive but just for temps and so forth i dont trust any program to OC for me and to be honest i dont think one is made. I go straight thru to bios and do it all my self then save a profile. Profile being save bios to a usb for back up just in case.

[Gavster]

According to Gigabyte site, the GA-890FXA-UD5 does provide support for AMD overdrive. The problem is, getting it to work with a Gigabyte motherboard. Is there anything I need to tweek in order to get BEMP profile? At the moment, the profile is blanked out

[bytheway_r]

I'll add my 2 cents.

I tried playing with AOD ( AMD Overdrive ) but quickly gave up as a lot of things seemed locked and sometimes it jumped to rather crazy values. I have no idea why it behaved like that. An example - with certain tweaks in bios AOD automatically overclocked and locked PCIe to ~140Mhz.
From what I remember it also kept my NB voltage at 1.4v .

Frankly, I'm scared of this little tool of theirs.


I think it'll be much easier if you just set your RAM manually in bios. Just enter the exact same values as the BEMP profile and it should work without a problem. It's really rather easy.

[Gavster]

I am disappointed that the Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5 is advertised as providing support for AMD overdrive, but I am not sure that it does, as Black Edition Memory Profile (BEMP) does not appear to work.

I bought Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5 thinking it would work closely with my AMD CPU, but that does not seem to be the case, and I must say I am disappointed that Gigabyte does not have any information as to why this is case. Very disappointing 

[Dark Mantis]

Have you tried asking directly? Question GGTS and see what their reply is. If it is not definitive enough just ask for more information. Usually you will get what you need in the end.

[bytheway_r]

You know, I think you're WAY too quick about bashing Gigabyte. PC problems of some kind are generally rather common, especially if you're trying to modify anything.

AOD, from what I've read, is a problematic tool all by itself. Feel free to change your motherboard and you could end up with AOD still not working.

I gave you an easy solution to your problem, so why won't you make your own life easier by using it? It takes, what, 5 to 10mins if you don't know what you're doing?

[Gavster]

I don't think I am "way too quick about bashing Gigabyte" as you put it. If the problem with the BEMP profile not working is because the Gigabyte motherboard does not support it (when Gigabyte says it does) then maybe this is an issue that Gigabyte may be able to fix quite easily. This thread over at the AMD forums suggest that my Gigabyte motherboard might the the source of this issue.

We know that AMD Overdrive has its limitations, but it has been stated elsewhere that Gigabyte's own overclocking tool, Easy Tune, is no better or worse than Overdrive.

Is there any way to contact Gigabyte directly to discuss this issue? I am begining to suspect that the reason why BEMP does not work with the  GA-890FXA-UD5 is that the BIOS does not support the latest version of AMD Overdrive.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

As I have already suggested contact GGTS Gigabytes support network and ask them directly.

http://ggts.gigabyte.com.tw/Default.aspx

[CanUK]

I may have missed it, but what version of BIOS are you running?  Maybe you should check that first before anything else.  As others have stated here, using software to OC is not a good idea, as it is prone to problems and not as reliable.  I really do not see why you are so against using the BIOS to overclock.  The 890FXA-UD5 has gotten great reviews for its ability to OC.

AMD Overdrive is just a piece of flashy software, that is it.

[Dark Mantis]

Yes I would have to agree with you totally CanUK. There is only one way to overclock in my experience and that is through the BIOS. None of these software programs are worth a light in my estimation.

[Gavster]

In response to CanUK, I have the latest BIOS (F5), like everybody else. The reason I say this is that one of the excellent features of the Gigabyte motherboard is that it comes with software that looks for updates and notifies us when there is a new version of the BIOS, so having an old version is not the problem.

I would have to disagree with you that using software to overclock is not a good idea. The simple reason is that the BIOS with its DOS interface (bless it!) does not provide the real time information (temperatures, frequencies etc) that is critical to setting the system. Also, making all the incremental changes to the BIOS is a very longwinded way of adjusting the system settings, involving endless reboots.  I know that the BIOS settings have to be adjusted as some point, but it adjusting the settings in Windows without constant reboots seems to be a good idea to me.

While using the BIOS to find the right overclock settings is the prefered by the "old school", I think you have to agree that it is a bit old fashioned now there are Windows programs such as EasyTune and Overdrive that could be used to overclock (if they worked properly!) is the way forward for the future. Furthermore, the DOS based BIOS does not provide the flexibility to overclock that a fully integrated Windows based application that can offer.

AMD Dragon Performance Tuning Guide
"AMD OverDrive utility gives users advanced control of system performance. This utility can be used to fine tune your performance settings in real time with easy-to-use screens designed for novice to expert users... it is a comprehensive utility for performance tuning, system monitoring and testing."

I don't want to blow AMD's trumpet, as I have only just started to use Overdrive, but from what I have seen on the AMD blog, it has got potential, and I think it is an overstatement to say that Overdrive is "just a piece of flashy software".

Thanks for the link to GGTS, I will take this issue up with Gigabyte directly and let you know if I get any response 

[CanUK]

Go to ANY forum on the net that deals with overclocking, all of them will say the same thing; overclock with BIOS.  Like DM said before, your overclock settings are not applied until your OS is loaded with software, and that software can get corrupted.

Also, when you overclock, the first thing you should be doing is testing if the system is stable.  Meaning, you adjust in BIOS, load your OS, then run a program like Prime95 for at least 10 minutes to see if the system crashes.  At this point you can also watch your temperatures, because the work load done by Prime95 will most likely not be matched by any use most people will do.

I wish you luck with getting your stable OC using the software, but the reason why people use BIOS instead of a Windows interface is because it is reliable and it works, unlike the software a lot of the times.